February 8, 2010 in City

Council seeks more assistance

Pay cuts for other positions would fund extra hours for members’ part-time support staff

Jonathan Brunt The Spokesman-Review

City may tap auditor’s pay

The Spokane City Council may increase hours for their assistants partly by decreasing the pay for its auditor.

Last year, the council opted to let its contract with its internal auditor, Gwen Fuller-Vernier, expire. She earned $114,192 a year. With benefits it cost the city about $143,000 a year, said City Council President Joe Shogan.

“I think it’s an important position,” Shogan said. “I just don’t think it’s worth $143,000.”

Councilman Richard Rush said the position should be refocused to help the council examine proposed budgets and ways to save money. A strong candidate should be available for the remaining $100,000 left for the position, he said.

“An auditor comes in after the fact,” Rush said. “We need help on the front end.”

Although facing significant budget troubles in 2011, Spokane City Council members today will consider spending $50,000 to increase the hours worked by their personal assistants.

Once considered a part-time job, Spokane City Council members say they believe their council duties require full-time attention. At the end of 2007, the same year they voted to give themselves part-time assistants, they also created a Salary Review Commission, which increased council pay from $18,000 to $30,000 a year.

Council members stress they will make other cuts to their budget to pay for the change, which would bump up the assistants’ hours from 20 to 28 per week. The council plans to reduce the pay of its unfilled auditor job by about $40,000 a year and lower the salaries of two other workers.

“It’s not going to change the council budget. We were very careful about that,” said Councilwoman Amber Waldref.

Increasing hours for their assistants will increase council members’ effectiveness and help them be more responsive to citizen inquiries, they say. Councilman Steve Corker said the workload of the council is significantly greater in recent years because members serve on more boards and attend more functions. He said the city’s recent financial concerns also require more time.

Said Councilman Richard Rush, “clearly you can do more things with two hands than with one, and certainly more with four hands than with two.”

Before the council voted to create the extra positions in 2007, it had one full-time and one part-time assistant. It now has two full-time assistants, and five members each have part-time assistants. Councilman Bob Apple and Council President Joe Shogan have declined to hire assistants.

In an interview last week, former Councilman Brad Stark questioned further increases in the assistants’ hours, even if new spending is offset.

“How does this help the $10 million budget shortfall headed into next year?” said Stark, who was the only council member who voted against the creation of personal assistants.

Under the plan to increase council staff hours, the personal assistants would be paid $14.37 per hour, up from $14, and will be eligible for the city’s pension program, though they still would not receive medical benefits.

The proposal also would reduce the pay of the council’s two full-time staff members. Council administrator Mary Franklin’s pay would go from $68,214 a year to $62,326. Council research assistant Todd Babcock’s salary will fall from $57,357 to $50,007.

The largest cut would come from the pay of the council’s internal auditor, a job that has been empty since last fall. The council opted to let its contract with internal auditor Gwen Fuller-Vernier expire last year. She earned $114,192 a year. With benefits, it cost the city about $143,000 a year, Shogan said.

Rush said city councils that didn’t have personal assistants got by “by being considerably less effective.”

Phyllis Holmes, who served on the council from 1993 until 2001, said the strong-mayor form of government approved in 1999 likely results in the council adding more staff to establish independence from the mayor. Even so, she said council members arguably have less responsibility because the city’s administration no longer answers to them.

“It would have been nice, but I managed” without an assistant, Holmes said. “It just meant that I stayed up late at night.”

Story
Comments 16

16 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

sixandseven on February 08 at 1:18 a.m.
Didnt the Council persons know this when they ran for office?

If they would quit going to all those stupid meetings that have no value, perhaps they would have the time to do their jobs.

BTW there job is NOT to go to every stupid meeting.

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Albert on February 08 at 7:34 a.m.
They can't be serious! I have a great idea…it is time for the Council to personally get serious about their “elected” positions and GET TO WORK!!! I have even a better idea… let's vote them ALL OUT!!! What a group of “do nothings”.

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dick adams on February 08 at 7:50 a.m.
It seems to me, Bob Apple, who is one of the only members who takes the time to investigate and respond to my email. It shows me he works for the citizens, even if we don`t always agree. The rest of the council, every Monday night brag about what they have done all week. Sounds more like a social event calendar. And what a waste to time and MONEY, traveling over to Olympia. In stead of all of their socializing and stupid meetings, for gosh sakes, they should study accounting so they know what the hell the budget is about. They showed their stupidity during last November, and December 2009, balancing the budget. It would be a GOOD idea to take away their airline tickets rather than wasteful junkets that are another joke. AND NOW THE SPEND THRIFTS PLAN ON SPENDING MORE MONEY INCREASING SALARIES. HOW ABOUT CUTTING MORE SALARIES OF THE BLOATED MANAGEMENT AT CITY HALL???

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rob_brewer on February 08 at 7:56 a.m.
Can we do this and cut more police and fire jobs too?

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sixandseven on February 08 at 8:16 a.m.
Lets see if I get this correct. Council persons get $30,000 a year while their administrator gets $68,214.

I saw fire the administrator (whose 1/3 phone calls are personal per a public disclosure request several years ago) and hire two more council persons. We could dedicate those two to go to all the meetings so the other council persons can do some work and just not shuffle notes from all the non-essential meetings they go to.

Or they could have there $14/hr assistants go to all those wastefull meetings.

Kudos to Apple and Shogan for not wanting “assistants”.

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Lewis on February 08 at 8:45 a.m.
14 dollars an hour to be a goat? come on, even goats are higher paid then the private sector, we area all screwed.

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Ron_the_Cop on February 08 at 8:46 a.m.
Buried in this article is the fact our City fathers/mothers have elected to leave the City Auditor's position open and now are reducing the salary of this position to pay for their additional Council staff. Yeah they're really overworked attending all their glad handing meetings/events.

This is economic crimes 101 and a discussion I had with many victim/business owners when they discovered their accountant or other “trusted” employee was caught in the till. I wasn't very sympathetic in recovering their “pound of flesh” once the horses were let out of the barn by their own doing. You divide this responsibility so you have procedural cross checks. Granted two or three employees could get together and siphon money off but this wasn't a likely event.

My gosh without the City auditor, Gavin Cooley's left guarding the hen house. BTW the Auditor by City code is required to be a CPA. The CFO has no such requirement. Being the cynical person I tend to be, I would be willing to bet our eggs are being sucked as we speak.

And didn't one of our former City auditors who just moved into town and bought a house suddenly leave over night? Gee I wonder what he stuck his nose into?

Det. Ron Wright (Retired)

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spokanecommunistparty on February 08 at 9:16 a.m.
You're right, Maby a whistle is about to be blown. Maby it has something to do with the spokesmen going out of its way to derail former mayor Jim West. Maby he wouldn't play ball with….

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Coffee on February 08 at 9:19 a.m.
Look's to me like they are trying to feather there nest. Vote the bums out.

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Scoutster on February 08 at 9:37 a.m.
My experience is that elected officials, even those I don't agree with, are hard-working and dedicated people who invest in their community with their time and talent. Why does everyone expect the worst of these folks instead of the best? What does that say about one's own belief in representative democracy? You get exactly the government you deserve. I don't know if this change makes sense or not, and I feel uneasy about eliminating a public auditor position, but this is what the people we hired to be managers say they need, I'm inclined to believe them, not to ridicule or belittle them. None of them will benefit, personally, from any of these changes.

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Mr. Natural on February 08 at 11:05 a.m.
Scoutster I agree with you…but it is much easier to criticize and play armchair general than get off you backside and truly get involved with government. Here we have Ms. Waldref a brand new council member. One I know personally as a person of integrity but that does not stop your average tea party types from venting their spleens over her ouster regarding circumstances of running local government they know absolutely nothing about.

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dick adams on February 08 at 12:08 p.m.
Mr. Natural: Because you do not use your name, I`m not certain or not if you actively participate to try and make things better in the Lilac City, Most of the activists I know use their name without shame and have contributed time and money for honesty in government and a better way for things to improve. Many of us, have been threatened. As a retired executive of United States Steel, I have been followed by the SPD in a unmarked vehicle. Documented. I have been told by way of a affidavit from D. Swinton, attorney for the Cowleses, just after I signed on as a plaintiff against the city regarding the River Park Square rip off, I may be sued if things derailed the Nordstrom agreement. Many taxpayers said they would like to sign the dotted line on my lawsuit but were afraid of being sued and destroying their lives. And you must know for example, individuals run out of town because they got in the way of the fat cats in town. If you use your name I`d be more than happy to send you documented proof of Spokane corruption.

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Mr. Natural on February 08 at 1:39 p.m.
Thank you for the cordial response Mr. Adams. It seems that you have had a bad experience with local official’s et al. I do participate locally and regionally in hopes to better our community. I take issues in stride and try to resolve these issues peacefully and not contentiously thus fostering good will between me and those I disagree with. I do not wish to give my name while expressing my opinion through this form of media as there are too many oddballs I prefer not to associate with. I hope you understand.

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Lewis on February 08 at 2:04 p.m.
the only odd balls you need to worry about on this blog is the cops. And that is just what Dick is speaking of. They can make your life difficult. I know.

John Olsen said it another way you use your real name if you believe in your convictions.

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Mr. Natural on February 08 at 2:41 p.m.
Lewis
I'm sorry but I respectfully decline because I value my privacy. If this somehow diminishes my opinion to you again I am sorry.
I do find it interesting that you and Mr. Adams have had issues with local law enforcement thus shaping your opinion on matters as seemingly adversarial to government or maybe the other way around as being adversarial to government thus incurring the wrath of local law enforcement. I hope I am wise enough to avoid such a trouble. I do believe it is unjust for law abiding citizen to be intimidated, especially by the police.

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Ron_the_Cop on February 10 at 8:12 p.m.
Readers may wish to read the comments in the other thread on a newer version of this article. I posted this comment re the complaint I just filed with the State Board of Accountancy:

READ QUICKLY AS THIS IS LIKELY TO DISAPPEAR

Dear Mr. Adams,

You are quite correct re a complaint was filed by me with the WA State Board of Accountancy. This complaint alleges a violation of violation of RCW 18.04.345 by re Gavin Cooley, CFO of the City of Spokane - misuse of the letters “CPA” after his name on the City's website. The cat's now out of the bag as this web page has since been “scrubbed.”

I understand this blog thread is generating considerable interest with City Hall insiders watching from the bleachers. While Mr. Brunt may write a follow-up story, in the interest of full disclosure you can read my complaint below with supporting documents and screen prints and decide whether this was a mere oversight or something more:

Cover letter
http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/…

Complaint
http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/…

Affiant's Declaration
http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/…

Table of Exhibits
http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/…

Det. Ron Wright (Retired)
AKA Ron the Cop

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